Image above: With Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building in the background, the carrier aircraft with Endeavour piggybacked on top gracefully touches down. Image above: Endeavour mounted atop a modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft flies over California's Mojave Desert on its way back to Kennedy. Image above: Endeavour kicks up dust as it touches down at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Photo credit: NASA/Rick Wetherington-Tim Powers Image above: Light-filled clouds of smoke and steam roll across Launch Pad 39A as Endeavour hurtles into the night sky. Inclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles Landing Site: Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. United Space Alliance.Primary Payload: Multi-Purpose Logistics Module ^ "Reliable Shuttle Orbiters Need Special Care".^ a b "From Landing to Launch Orbiter Processing".References This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Endeavour is currently stored in the VAB. OPF-1 is assigned to Discovery, OPF-2 to Atlantis. The last step before rollover to the VAB was weighing the orbiter to determine its center of gravity. Remaining payloads, fuels and fluids were installed on the pad closer to launch day. Prior to rollout to the Vehicle Assembly Building, several weeks before scheduled launch, the orbiter was prepared for the next mission by installing mission flight kits, payloads, consumable fluids and gases where possible. After all its flights, the orbiter went through "Down Mission Processing.".any modifications to the orbiter were completed in the OPF.the Orbital Maneuvering System and Reaction Control System pods were possibly removed and transferred to the Hypergol Maintenance Facility for troubleshooting, repair or other services.any needed repairs on the orbiter's thermal protection system including the thermal blankets and thousands of tiles were completed.main engines were removed and transferred to the Main Engine Processing Facility for checkout and service.scaffolding was installed around the orbiters aft to allow technicians to access the main engines.main engines were locked in place and covers installed.heat shields were removed from the engines and aft access were opened.
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